Ian Rankin wishes he'd never read Brady's book

Each week in the Herald on Sunday (one of the New Zealand publications I review crime fiction for), books editor Nicky Pellegrino includes a quickfire 'Booklover' interview with an author or other famous person - asking them about the books they're reading, their favourites of all time, and more.

This week's interviewee was acclaimed Scottish crime writer Ian Rankin, whose latest thriller, THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD (the second book in the Malcolm Fox/Complaints series) was released recently.

Amongst other things, Rankin shares that the book he wished he'd never read was THE GATES OF JANUS by Moors Murderer Ian Brady. "Brady is an infamous serial killer and this book is his credo. I read it only for research purposes and it made my skin crawl," says Rankin.

I've watched a few documentaries about the Moors Murders, and read a little bit about Myra Hindley and Ian Brady, but haven't ever read THE GATES OF JANUS - after Rankin's comments I probably wouldn't want to either - or anything that Hindley wrote herself. Although I used to be reasonably fascinated by true crime when I was younger, I don't read a lot of it lately - and I'm not sure how much I'd want to read about a serial killer's justifications for what they did.

On a sunnier note, you can read more about the books Rankin is currently reading, and has really enjoyed, in the full Booklover interview here.